All Under Sin: Guilty Before God – Romans 3:9-20
Bethel Baptist Church – David Rising
Romans 3:9-20; June 6, 2026 Sunday AM (Communion)
All Under Sin: Guilty Before God
We looked last week at Romans 3:1-8 where we observed Paul raise and answer at least four questions about the Jewish advantage.
If both Jews and Gentiles are guilty before God, then was there any advantage in the first place when God singled out the nation of Israel as He did?
Yes, Paul, made clear. The Jews did and do have an advantage because God gave us His word through them. That is a very big deal.
However, many Jews did not and do not believe. Does this fact then make God’s promises invalid? Of course not, Paul writes.
God will keep His promises, and that also includes judgment against sin.
And even though the unrighteousness of mankind does bring out God’s righteousness, God will still judge unrighteousness. He is fair to judge as He will.
The human logic that says we should do evil so that good may come is flawed and absurd. God will judge sin and their condemnation is just.
This is where we bookmarked the text last week.
Today we want to see the next question Paul raises and see how it flows into the strong points he will make that underline the first key point in the gospel, which is this: we are all under sin, and as a result, stand guilty before God. Pray.
1. Are Jews better than others? (3:9)
9 What then? Are we better than they?
This question sounds a lot like the first one of 3:1, and it is. The first question was about the Jewish advantage. Yes, they had an advantage. They had been entrusted with God’s oracles.
But here, the question is about the Jew who sins.
To say that someone is better than someone else is a very awkward way of talking. This is immature talk. This is behind the charge of racism or accusing certain people with privilege. It is wearisome talk!
Notice the final two words of the question are in italics. That means they are not in the original text but are assumed to be words meant. To add “than they” is explain the comparative point: are we Jews better than they are? And the “they” in context would be the Gentiles/Greeks.
The NET/ESV adds a different word at the end. They have “are we better off?”
That is a slightly different take on it, but still the point is obvious: do the Jews have any advantage before God or are they better somehow when it comes to sin?
The answer is given emphatically: Not at all (οὐ πάντως). No, the Jews are not better than the Gentiles. They are not better off than anyone else when it comes to sin.
A sinner is a sinner.
The issue is not about ethnicity but about sin.
Paul repeats in the latter part of verse 9 the point he made earlier:
For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
This is a great clue within this book that what Paul has been arguing up to this point is precisely the point we have been explaining. Both Jew and Gentile/Greek are in the same boat: sinners will be judged unless God intervenes.
We will also see shortly that this previous charge also goes back into the OT since Paul quotes extensively from the OT in verses 10-18.
Notice the phrase ‘all under sin’ (πάντας ὑφʼ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι). To be under sin means to be under the power and penalty of sin. It means to be a sinner.
Later in Romans we see that sin reigns (5:21), it enslaves (6:6), it rules (6:12), and it exercises lordship (6:14). It is a powerful force in the flesh.
Sin rules over people, and that is the problem. It has power to dominate us.
Paul is not content simply to make this statement, but he illustrates it with …
2. Proof from the OT (3:10-18)
Paul bombards the reader with proof after proof that all are under sin. It is not just a Gentile problem. It is also a Jewish problem.
Paul proves his point first by quoting from Psalm 14:1-3 (c.f., 53:1-3 – same text).
10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Psalm 14 begins, “The fool has said in his heart” and then it continues with the 3 verses Paul cited. This is not a pretty picture of mankind.
Notice the repeating of “there is none” (οὐκ ἔστιν) – this does not leave anyone as an exception, not even the nicest person you may know.
The doctrine of original sin does not set well with some people, especially with those who think they are pretty good and don’t like to hear any negativity.
How many are righteous? None.
How many understand? None.
How many seek after God? None.
How many do good? None.
This is pretty depressing or offensive if you are trying to make your case for your own goodness.
Scripture is clear: we are all are under sin.
Next, Paul refers to Psalm 5:9 and 140:3:
13 “Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
These words speak of their mouths and what they do. Not a pretty picture here. You would not want to view an open tomb.
Their tongues and lips spew forth deceit described here as poison.
Verse 14 continues the theme of the sinful tongue, referring to Psalm 10:7:
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
Psalm 10 speaks of how God will triumph over evil, and this verse sits within that Psalm. Again, not a pretty picture.
Verse 15-17 are taken from Isaiah 59:7-8
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
Schreiner notes:
“human evil is not confined to the tongue. It ultimately expresses itself in society. Murder and killing (v. 15) document its existence in a world that has all too often turned toward barbarism. When Paul says … destruction and misery are in their paths, v. 16, he does not refer to the subjective feeling of misery and unhappiness that sin brings. His point is that human beings inflict destruction and misery on other people. Similarly, to say … they have not known the way of peace, v. 17, is not a comment on the anxiety and turbulence dwelling in their hearts. Rather, the violent and savage behavior of human beings is the object of Paul’s critique. Human beings have regularly acted in a warlike and violent fashion.[1]”
Schreiner, T. R. (1998). Vol. 6: Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (166–167). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Paul’s final reference in verse 18 is from Psalm 36:1:
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Humanity is fearless. Up to this point Paul has been describing man’s actions against other people. This one show the problem in relation to God. No fear before God.
This is the point that David made in …
Psalm 51:4 (NKJV)
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
This is why also the writer of Proverbs begins in
Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV)
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
And so Paul has made it clear with his argument and also by citing previous scripture – scriptures that God gave the Jews and to the world.
Verse 9 tells us that this discussion and these OT citations are making the point that we are all under sin, both Jews and Greeks/Gentiles.
Paul further drives this point now in verse 19:
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
19οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὅσα ὁ νόμος λέγει τοῖς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ λαλεῖ, ἵνα πᾶν στόμα φραγῇ καὶ ὑπόδικος γένηται πᾶς ὁ κόσμος τῷ θεῷ·
3. Result: all the world is guilty (3:19)
Paul’s point was made in verse 9 – that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. Humankind, regardless of ethnicity, has an inherited sin problem that holds a power of their lives and it proven by their sinful actions.
The result of this is guilt. This is not merely a bad feeling of guilt. This is a judicial status before God. We stand before God guilty.
The focus of chapter 3 is the Jew and they were privileged to receive from God His oracles, which included the Law (ὁ νόμος).
The Jews were under that Law and it was to guide their daily life. The Law was not flawed, but the people were.
Paul makes a statement in verse 19 that makes sense: when a law is given to particular people, the Jews in this instance, they are accountable to that law. That law has weight over their lives. It speaks to them. If they break it, they are guilty.
This is the case here in Paul’s argument.
Paul also included the Gentiles in this discussion and they too – we too – are guilty before God.
Verse 19 summarizes the fate of Jews and Gentiles here by indicating that God’s purpose in all this is to render every mouth mute – that every mouth may be stopped.
No more words to defend self. No excuses. No more reasoning. No more talk. Nothing. Silence.
Let God be true and every man a liar (3:4).
The result is that all the world is guilty before God.
To be guilty of something is a horrible place to be.
People who have committed crimes and are convicted of those crimes hear the judges read the decision of the jury and then render the judgment: guilty! What follows then are the consequences.
This reference of ‘guilt’ (ὑπόδικος) is referring is based upon the evidence that brings about consequences.
To be guilty is to be liable to judgment (L&N), answerable to God.
Before Paul gives the marvelous solution in Christ in verses 21-26, he draws out in verse 20 one more conclusion:
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
20διότι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, διὰ γὰρ νόμου ἐπίγνωσις ἁμαρτίας.
4. The Law cannot justify us, but rather shows our sin (3:20)
The assumption in verse 20 is that someone has concluded wrongly that the Law can justify us if we simply keep the law.
And on one level, that seems to make sense. We can avoid the courtroom if we just obeyed.
But what Paul has argued in chapters 2 & 3 is that we cannot avoid the verdict of guilt … on our own. Paul has not told the whole story here, just the first part.
Can Jews or Gentiles perfectly obey God’s Law and be considered righteous? Paul says in verse 20 emphatically NO.
No one can keep the whole Law. James tells us in James 2:10:
James 2:10 (NKJV) 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
Even if we could keep the whole law, but just mess up in one point, we would still become guilty of it all.
No one can do it, therefore there is no possibility that someone could escape the verdict of guilt before God.
Paul says no flesh will be justified in God’s sight by the deeds of the law – by doing the law.
Rather, he says, the law reveals our sin.
The last phrase of verse 20 explains why no one will be justified by keeping the law. The law functions not in a saving way but in a revealing way.
The law does not disable the power of sin in our lives. Rather, it reveals the power of sin in our lives.
Now, we might argue, that Paul is contradicting himself. He says in 2:13 that the doers of the Law will be justified, and here he says that no one will be justified by doing the Law. Which is it?
We could make this complicated, but I think there are two ways to understand justification: one is at the outset, a standing. The other, is at the end, an evaluation.
James 2 speaks about justification following works, but James is speaking about works that prove our faith, that show our faith.
At the end of time when God evaluates us, if we stand in Christ’s righteousness and are thus doers of His law, we will be justified – proven to be His own.
What Paul concludes in verses 19-20 is that all the world stands guilty before God because we can’t keep the law.
God’s law shows us that we are sinners and stand in need of God’s help.
What we need is the righteousness of God, and we will see that in our next study as we proceed from verse 21.
Application
1. We all stand in need of God’s grace and mercy.
2. The answer is Jesus.